Bowling alley



Oct. 13, 1925- H. LOEWENBACH BOWLING ALLEY E jg z I Filed Oct 192$ Patented Get. 13, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

nueo Lonwnnsacm or MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin,

\ BOWLING ALLEY.

Application filed October 26, 1923. Serial No. 670,872.

To; all wit 01a it concern Be it known that I, HUGO LOEWENBAOH, a citizen oftheUnited'States, and resident of Milwaukee, in thefc ounty of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bowling Alleys; and I do'hereby' declare that -the"following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

This lnyention relates to a new form of game apparatus.

[Objects of this invention are to provide a game which takes'the general form of a bowling alley, which may be played from either end, which is provided with-means for setting up the pins operable by manually manipulable means accessible at either end of the alley, and in vwhich means are Provided for 'maintainin the correct ad- ]ustment'of each indivi ual pin restoring or setting'means. v l

This inventionis'an improvement over that disclosed in Patent Number 1,392,586,

for'game apparatus issued to meOctober 4:, 1921, and has the same general objects as those stated in such patent.

Further objects are to provide a bowling alley which is of 1 simple and substantial construction, which isprovided with easily produced means for simultaneously. setting all of the pins, and which-is so constructed that itmay be'playedjeither primarily as a'game of chance or as a game requiring considerable skill. v

Embodiments of the inventionare shown in the accompanying drawing, in which 2+ Figure 1 is a plan view of the apparatus. Figure 2 is a bottom view thereof.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

f Figure 4: is a fragmentary plan view showing a further form of the invention. a r a The device comprises a table-like structure 1 which is in the form of an alleyway.

'It is'provided with side flanges 2 and with the rear; end member or flange 3.- The for- 'ward' endof theapparatus is completed by a block 4:, which is cutout along a circular line 5, which merges-into a straight wall 6.

from the curved face 5 of the block, as

shown in Figure 1, and continued outwardly to form a protecting portion 9 spaced from the wall 6 of the block 4. It will be noted from inspection of Figure 1 that this partition forms a guideway for the balls, which may be thrown or rolled from the rear end of the apparatus, and which, upon leaving the passageway formed between the wall 6 and the portion 9 of the partition will be directed toward the center of the alleyway.

The rear portion of the device is recessed, as-indicated at 10. The forward end of this recess is tapered, as indicated at 11,

to provide substantially a triangular front portion-for the cutout part; part 1s bridged adJacent its rear portion by This cutout a transverse member 12, and a plurality of narrow slats 13, preferably ofmetal, are arthe bottom portion of the body part 1, as

shown in Figure 3, and'th us serving as a closure for the; bottom of the cutout 10.

If desired, a plurality of legs 16 .may be :provided and may be arranged in pairs at the forward and rear ends of the device.

Obviously it is within the scope of this in- .vention to provide a stand or legs for supporting the device, although, .as shown in the drawings, it is intended to'be placed upon the table top.

The bottom plate 15 isprovided with a plurality of holes 17 therethrough above each of which is positioned a pin 14. These pins, as shown in Figure 3, are each provided with a cord 18 which extends inwardly through the base thereof and is suitably secured to the pin. These cords 18 extend through the apertures 17 and'are attached to an'eyelet 19. They are each provided with 'a spring 20 intermediate their length so as to maintain the correct-adjustment for each independent string or cord. 7

Means are provided'for restoring the pins to their upright positions after they have been knocked to a'pr'one' -'position. The means contemplated by -this invention includes a lever 21 pivotally carried intermediate its ends by a bracket 22 secured to the under side of the table. This lever carries the eyelet l9 previously described, adjacent me end! tliereoi, and is attached to one end of a spring 23 adjacent its other end, one end of such spring bei rigidly. attached to the under surface of dhe table, as shown in Figure 2. A rearwardly extending longitudinal member 24 is secured to one end of the lever 21 and extendsybe" neath the table portion. Its outer end is based 'thi "tan: npertueein one of the gs 1&6 andnstpnovidnd' with a manipulating 6yelet25 through which a finger of the operator may be inserted when it is desired to retract member 24 and to thus set the pins in upright position. A second longitudinality extending: member attached to the other end of ltvhfl dfiv w .21an'd is guided at its outer and by passing it through a -.suitable apenture in the dorward leg 16. Its outer end is provided with amgwmpnlaiting eyelet 27.

it will be seen, therefore; that means have been prnvided which the pins may be restored .or set from either end of the apparatus, thus permitting played from either end without requiring the operator to walk .tothe other end of the device. It is of course to be understood that if desired the bars .or rods24nnd 26 me be replaced by .fielxihle' members.

Iii the lfiozr'n shown in Figure 4, the guidewmy ior-theballsxis provided with a plurality of convolntiens 28, :29 and :30, which tenninaterinaineurwardly and slight- .t inwardly extending l.gzdelway 31 This fbrinofthedervioe aqirouitous passage fertile builds whenthey are rolled from their-ear end of the device and placedin the .guideway Q It will be seen, therefore, that a bowling alley has been provided upon which the time maybe played fromeither end. If, a r instance, it is played from therear end, as shown in Figure '1, the balls .are placed in the guideway formed between the partition 7 and the side wall2 endure projected forwardly. These rapidly traveling .balls are guided rearwardly by the forward portion of the apparatus and are projected along ithenlleyway towardsthe upstanding pins. When the game is played in thismanner the rear eyelet 25 is grasped by the operator and withdrawn when it is desired to reset the pins.

Obviously, however, the game may be layed from the other-end of the alleyway y rolling the balk rearwardly along such alleyway towards such upstandinglpins -the ibal ls being placed either between the wall 6 and the portion 915i the partition, or between the portions 9 and7 of such partition.

When the game is played in this manner considerable skill is required of the players the game to be and the game then becomes substantially similar in its mode of playing to the usual or regulation: game of 7 [It is to be noted that the pat'tion. :12 and the rear wall 3 form a pocket 32 into which .hasbeen provided, in which two distinct modes of play are possible, and in which the pins may be set simultaneously irom either end of the apparatus.

Although the iniventisonhas been described in considerable detail, it isato'be mud'nmtdod that it a be variously .embodiiad is therefore to be limited onlylmsnlaimed.

As shown in Figures 1 and. 2 0st elhedm-wings, the ball receiving poclgatfldmy :be provided with a dischargemauthfiil, which is controlled by .a valveM. iBy this-I'nechanism the operator can, if desirei open'bh valveand permit balls to drop into an suitable gravity delivery ,chuterby :whi

they will be discharged at the fnrwmrdien of the apparatus. l

I. claim v 1. A game comprising an alleyway having a forward andrear end, a plurality of pins located adjacent said rear .end and adapted tobeknocked into a prone positiomaflexible member attached to each pin .to set such pin in upright tpositionf wlhen flili'lSiOllBd, a (inoatableniqatsied byluid -a eywayan a apvted tosim. moausly, .sion all ofeaid flexible. members whenmvved, and manually operablemeans eenmctedlto a .portion of said member and extending to one end ,ofsaida and .a second Immially operable vmean r connectedtommatber portion of said .member and" extending d the other end oifsaidalley. 1 1

2. Agamezoomprising anelongated body portion haying side flanges and a forward and rear end, a plurality of. mounted adjacent-the reariend of said dy ,portion and adapted to be knocked into prone sition, said body portion having aplur lty of holes therethrough adjacent said pins, cords extending through said holeseach having one end attached to a pin and adapt- .ed to set said pins in upright osition when tensioned, a"lever pivotedto t 1e underside of said body portion and having one connectedto all of said cords, tension members connected to opposite endsioi said layer forward end and having a rearwardlydirected portion for guiding balls towardssaid rear ,3 portion, a plurality of pins mounted adjacontrolling the discharge of balls from said cent the rear of said body portion and adaptpocket.

ed to be knocked into a prone position, man- In testimony that I claim the foregoing 10 ually operable means for setting said pins have hereunto Set my h nd at Milwaukee, 5 in an upright position, said body portion 1n the county of Milwaukee and State of having a ball receiving pocket adjacent its Wlsconsmrear end, and a manually operable slide for HUGO LOEWENBACH. 

